Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, S23+, and S23 hands-on review

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is here, along with the Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23, and we can finally move past the leaks and rumors and into real and official territory. We’ve had some quality time with all three devices and want to share some initial thoughts – how they feel, what’s new and what’s not.

Let’s start with a few similarities to last year’s models. First, the formula hasn’t changed. We still get an Ultra, a Plus and vanilla, and their position relative to the other has also remained the same.

The Ultra is the no-frills flagship phone, the Galaxy S23/S23+ are more affordable with a few “sensible” omissions. Size is also a factor – like last year’s models, the Ultra is the biggest in more ways than one – physically, screen-wise and battery-wise.

As before, there are some important similarities between the three models. The biggest is the underlying chipset – all three models use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, this one a specially tuned version for these three devices specifically. Samsung and Qualcomm are calling it the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for the Galaxy, and it’s basically a higher-clocked version of the familiar new chip.

The Ultra still has the upper hand in terms of performance, thanks to the option of 12GB of RAM, while the S23/S23+ maxes out at 8GB.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra looks (and feels) familiar. You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a minimal upgrade over the Galaxy S22 Ultra. But you would also be wrong. If we agree that camera, performance and battery life are the key areas where a phone can be upgraded, then the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a big upgrade over the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 brings moderate to large performance improvements. Judging by some early benchmarks, the Cortex-X3 inside is 10% to 20% faster than the Cortex-X2 inside the Exynos 2200 in single-core tests. Multi-core scores for the new processor can be 30% to 60% better depending on the benchmark. The GPU is also much faster. Samsung steered clear of naming percentages, but games like PUBG Mobile cap at around 60fps on the Exynos 2200-powered Galaxy S22 Ultra, while Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 devices support gameplay at up to 120fps.

Synthetic scores aside, the new chip is much more efficient and less prone to thermal issues. Only per specs, it’s about 40% more efficient than its predecessor, which itself was more efficient than the Exynos 2200, which predominated in the Galaxy S22 series globally. That means the Galaxy S23 Ultra will likely manage to squeeze more hours out of its 5,000mAh battery pack – that’s your big battery upgrade.

Finally, the new 200 MP main camera could prove a generational upgrade over the old 108 MP. The new sensor can output both 12MP and 50MP photos, depending on the scenario. And you can get that 50MP through the Expert RAW app, giving prosumers a richer, sharper baseline. Night photography and video have also been improved.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specifications at a glance:

• Body: 163.4×78.1×8.9mm, 233g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2); IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m 30 minutes), reinforced aluminum frame with harder drop and scratch resistance (announced), Stylus, 2.8ms latency (Bluetooth integration, accelerometer, gyro).
• Screen: 6.80″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1750 nits (peak), 1440x3088px resolution, 19.3:9 aspect ratio, 501ppi; Always on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, One UI 5.1.
• Rear camera: wide (main): 200MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.3″, 0.6µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70 mm, 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/4.9, 230 mm, 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13 mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF.
• Front camera: 12MP, f/2.2, 25mm (wide), PDAF.
• Video recording: Rear camera: [email protected]/30fps, [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected], HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS; Front camera: [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]
• Battery: 5000mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, 10W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasound); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Compared to the Ultra, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ are incremental updates. The biggest upgrade is the move to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which will bring better overall performance and battery life. The batteries have received a 200mAh bump on both models, giving a total of 3,900mAh and 4,700mAh on the S23 and S23+ respectively.

Samsung Galaxy S23+ specifications at a glance:

• Body: 157.8×76.2×7.6mm, 195g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m 30 minutes), Armor aluminum frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (announced).
• Screen: 6.60″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 390ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, One UI 5.1.
• Rear camera: wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23 mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0 µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0 µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video.
• Front camera: 12MP, f/2.2, 25mm (wide), PDAF.
• Video recording: Rear camera: [email protected]/30fps, [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected], HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS; Front camera: [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]
• Battery: 4700mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, 10W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasound); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).

Samsung Galaxy S23 specifications at a glance:

• Body: 146.3×70.9×7.6mm, 167g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m 30 minutes), Armor aluminum frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (announced).
• Screen: 6.10″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 422ppi; Always on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS.
• OS/Software: Android 13, One UI 5.1.
• Rear camera: wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23 mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0 µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0 µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video.
• Front camera: 12MP, f/2.2, 25mm (wide), PDAF.
• Video recording: Rear camera: [email protected]/30fps, [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected], HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS; Front camera: [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]
• Battery: 3900mAh; 25W wired, PD3.0, 10W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasound); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).

The rest of the Galaxy S23/S23+ specs read similarly to their predecessors. You get a largely unchanged triple camera setup – wide, 3x and ultra-wide on the back and a 12MP selfie on the front that’s shared between all three models.

The 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch 1080x2340px Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz displays are also straight out of last year’s Galaxy S22 and S22+.

Samsung made the decision to remove the contoured camera island on the Galaxy S23 and S23+. It brings the pair in line with the flatter, more minimalist look of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung calls it a linear design across all models. Some might call it too simple, even boring.

All three models come in four colors – Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. All three are also covered in the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – these are the first devices to use the material.

That’s it for the general outline of the new Galaxy S23 series. It paints a similar picture for 2022 – the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ aren’t compelling upgrades for owners of the previous generation, while the Ultra model might be, depending on your needs. There’s no addition as big as last year’s inclusion of an S Pen, but sometimes refinement is just as important as innovation.

We’ll take a closer look at the hardware over the next few pages.